HC pulls up Kejriwal for asking ‘abusive, indecent’ questions
NEWDELHI: The Delhi high court on Wednesday warned chief minister Arvind Kejriwal against asking “scandalous and abusive” questions to Union minister Arun Jaitley during cross-examination in a defamation suit against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader.
Justice Manmohan said expressions used by Kejriwal’s former counsel Ram Jethmalani during the cross-examination, such as “crook”, were “indecent, scandalous and abusive” which lowered the decorum of the court room. “You are using words such as crook. Does it fall in free speech? Are you aware that this is an unparliamentary word,” the judge said.
Additionally, a joint registrar of the high court also imposed a cost of ₹10,000 on Arvind Kejriwal for failing to file a response to a fresh ₹10 crore defamation suit filed by Jaitley over use of an objectionable word allegedly by the CM’s lawyer.
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday warned chief minister Arvind Kejriwal against asking “indecent” questions to Union minister Arun Jaitley during cross-examination in a defamation suit against the AAP leader.
Justice Manmohan said expressions used by Kejriwal’s former counsel Ram Jethmalani during the cross-examination, such as “crook”, were “indecent, scandalous and abusive” which lowered the decorum of the court room.
“You are using words such as crook. Does it fall in free speech? Are you aware that this is an unparliamentary word,” the judge said.
“No person can be subject to such indecent, offensive, scandalous, abusive questions in the garb of cross-examination,” the judge said, adding, “It’s uncalled for. This is not the way to conduct the cross-examination”.
“This court is of the view that liberty of free speech cannot be used to make unaccounted statements,” the judge said, warning Kejriwal that any further scandalous questions during the cross-examination will not be tolerated.
The judge said he will transfer the case from the joint registrar to a bench of the high court if he finds even an “iota” of indecent questions by Kejriwal’s counsel.
The court, which was hearing an application moved by the Union minister to expedite the recording of evidence in an orderly and fair manner, allowed Kejriwal’s new counsel Anoop George Chaudhary to go through the documents and posted the hearing on August 28.
In a related development, a joint registrar of the high court Wednesday imposed a cost of Rs 10,000 on Kejriwal after he failed to file his response on a Rs 10 crore defamation suit filed by Jaitley over use of objectionable word by the CM’s lawyer.
During the hearing, senior advocate Chaudhary told the court that Kejriwal has never instructed Jethmalani to use such words.
Reacting to it, senior counsel Rajiv Nayar, appearing for Jaitley, said Jethmalani should submit an affidavit to clarify the issue.